This information was sourced from the City of Malibu's website and describes our neighborhoods before the January 7th, 2025, Palisades fire.
1.6.6Las Flores Canyon Watershed.
Las Flores Canyon is one of the largest watersheds in the Malibu area. Within the watershed are the neighborhoods of Las Flores Canyon, Las Flores Mesa, Rambla Pacifico, and La Costa.
CIRCULATION: Seven-tenths of Las Flores Canyon Road is within the Malibu city limits. Las Flores Mesa Drive, a privately maintained road, is accessed only from Las Flores Canyon Road. Rambla Pacifico, a main north-south thoroughfare until a landslide made the road impassable in the early 1980s, is usually reached via Las Flores Canyon Road. Over two miles of Rambla Pacifico Road are within city limits. North of the city limits, Las Flores Canyon Road interconnects with Rambla Pacific Road. Further north, hairpin roads off Rambla Pacifico, such as Schuerin and Piuma, provide access to the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood of La Costa is accessible from Pacific Coast Highway on the east via Rambla Vista and on the west via Rambla Vista. All of the above roads are winding, have narrow shoulders, and have no sidewalks or curbs. Off-site parking is limited. The exception is the strip of La Costa homes along Pacific Coast Highway. The highway has curbs, and off-site parking is available.
1.6.6(a) Las Flores Canyon.
HISTORY: Las Flores Canyon was among the first residential settlements because a guarded Rindge Ranch fence west of the road impeded westward development. The office of Malibu's first justice of the peace (he was a bartender at the stagecoach stop, now known as Charlie Brown's Sea Lion Restaurant) and some Rindge Ranch bunkhouses were on Las Flores. Two bunkhouses remain. Other buildings near the mouth of Las Flores, easily identified by their architecture and wood siding, are nearly 100 years old. Though close to the Pacific Coast Highway, the area feels isolated and tranquil.
LAND USE: Las Flores Canyon has an eclectic mix of single-family, multifamily rentals, commercial, horticultural, institutional, and public facility zoning within the city limits. A nursery sits at the opening of Las Flores. About a block and a half north on the east side of the road is a place of business. On its south is a four-unit apartment building. The balance of land north of the company and on the east side of the road is all single-family. County zoning permitted multifamily development up to four-tenths of a mile up Las Flores. A private school is on the east side, and a county maintenance yard is on the west side, at the north end of the road. The very few infill lots remaining are used for parking overflow (in particular and regularly by the office building for employee parking and the 20-unit apartment building). The majority of parcels are one-quarter acre. Houses average about 2,000 to 2,500 square feet. There has been no "mansionizing." Most structures have been built at the canyon floor; a few are on hillsides or hilltops. Wood is the predominant siding for single-family and multifamily buildings, reflecting the neighborhood's "woodsy" rustic character.
HOUSING: Multifamily rentals include four duplexes, two triplexes (one is uninhabitable due to flood damage), three fourplexes, one six-plex, and one 20-unit apartment building. Units range from one- to two-bedrooms. A triplex, fourplex, and six-plex are on the creek side (west of the road). There are no condominiums. Two small Rindge bunkhouses are rentals. There are granny unit rentals in single-family residences.
CONSERVATION: Las Flores Canyon is the only residential deep canyon in Malibu and has been designated by the County as a "Most Important" Significant Ecological Area. A creek, which flattens as it runs through the city limits of the canyon, carries runoff from one of the largest watersheds in the Santa Monica Mountains and provides sand for Las Flores Beach. Within the city limits, the creek is bounded on the east by housing and the nursery and on the west by Rambla Pacifica. In addition to coastal shrubs and wildflowers, Las Flores Canyon also features pine trees, sycamores, pepper trees, and cacti. Minimal formal landscaping (lawns, etc.) gives the area a "natural" appearance. Wildlife, including deer, quail, and rattlesnakes, is present in the canyon.
OPEN SPACE: Open space is visual, not publicly owned. The visually open, aesthetically pleasing areas are the by-product of the steep canyon walls and "natural" vegetation.
NOISE: Man-made sounds echo in the canyon, but are typically unobtrusive. Because the road is now a main thoroughfare, traffic sounds can be a nuisance, particularly in the warmer months. Natural sounds of frogs, coyotes, and birds abound.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: Las Flores Canyon is a floodplain. Many of the buildings along the creek are built on pilings. Two properties, a triplex and a single-family residence, which sit below the creek bed as a result of the Rambla Pacifico slide, were destroyed by flooding in February of last year. The triplex was remodeled and re-rented, but again was destroyed by flooding in December. The two Rindge bunkhouses (at creekbed level) sustained substantial water damage but are now available for rent again. The balance of creekside properties sits four to fifteen feet above the creek bed. During rains, the creek either rises and widens or runs narrow and deep. Also, the bed level is adversely affected by rocks tumbling and siltation from the steep upper watershed outside the city limits.
Las Flores Canyon is sandwiched between two slides, Rambla Pacifico and Las Flores Mesa. The Rambla Pacifico slide is the subject of litigation and will not be discussed here. The recent rains caused several problems on Las Flores Canyon Road due to: 1.6.6 (b) Las activity on Las Flores Mesa: runoff, surface mudslides, rocks and boulders, a fallen tree, and a dormant natural spring that ran down Las Flores Mesa Drive and onto Las Flores Canyon Road for several weeks. The runoff has undermined the asphalt.
1.6.6(b) Las Flores Mesa.
LAND USE: The area, which saw development begin in the late fifties, consists of single-family residential lots averaging one acre. Houses are frequently perched along bluffs, down steep hillsides, or, in the case of Sierks Way, built on a flat promontory. Homes average around 2,000 square feet in size. However, over the past two years, houses ranging from 4,000 to 6,500 square feet have been built. Most residences have ocean views.
HOUSING: N/A
CONSERVATION: Homes on Sierks Way have lawns, but homes on Las Flores Mesa Drive and Eagle Pass Drive are primarily surrounded by natural vegetation. The undeveloped hills provide a wildlife corridor.
OPEN SPACE: Because of the steepness of the hillsides, there are acres of privately-owned open space.
NOISE: Peaceful.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: The downslope side of Las Flores Mesa Drive has experienced movement, primarily surficial sliding, as has Eagle Pass Drive. The roads are privately owned; the homeowners are responsible for maintenance and storm drains. Street runoff that either overwhelms the drains or cannot enter them due to blockages frequently floods Las Flores Canyon Road.
1.6.7 La Costa.
BACKGROUND: The hillside neighborhood of La Costa, the oldest subdivision in Malibu, dates back to 1926. The neighborhood's CC&Rs, which expired around 1970, required architectural review and approval of all development.
LAND USE: The area is predominantly single-family residential built along narrow winding streets and on steep hillsides. On the north sides of the roads, structures are built up the hillsides primarily; obvious cuts into the hillside are infrequent. On the south sides of the streets, structures are built down the hillsides or rest on pilings. Most structures have very little or no setback from the streets. The original homes are primarily Mission Revival in design. However, since the expiration of the CC&Rs, the residential lots have averaged an eclectic mix of designs. Telephone lines are underground. Most homes have ocean views. La Costa now includes single-family homes built later along the Pacific Coast Highway, and these homes have setbacks.
Malibu's original mixed-use strip center is located between Rambla Pacifico and Rambla Vista on Pacific Coast Highway. In the past, the first floor was commercial, and previously the second floor was residential. Today, the first floor is commercial/retail; the second floor is commercial/office. The first-floor businesses serve both residents and visitors.
HOUSING: On the east end of Rambla Vista, housing is primarily multifamily with five duplexes and one eight-unit apartment building.
CONSERVATION: As the area ages, trees have grown to enormous heights, enhancing the beauty of the hillside neighborhood. Vegetation is natural. Three historic structures are located on the Pacific Coast Highway. Representing the Mission Revival style in design, one structure, referred to as the "Old Sheriff's Station," is made of brick; the other two, at the La Costa neighborhood shopping area, are stucco. All have tile roofs and in some rooms, original Malibu tile.
OPEN SPACE: Open space is visually prominent, mainly due to the topography, and privately owned.
NOISE: Tranquil, except for the homes that are built along the Pacific Coast Highway.
HEALTH AND SAFETY: The eastern half of La Costa has experienced slope movement. Gas lines are above ground. Rambla Orienta, Paseo Hidalgo, and Calle de Barco, at the northern top of the neighborhood, are dewatered. Due to the slide in the eighties, some houses on the east end of Rambla Orienta were destroyed or remain uninhabitable.
1.6.8Las Tunas Beach to Carbon Beach.
Part of the magic of Malibu is that, like few places in the world, it is a place where the mountains come down to meet the sea.
Steep, unstable bluffs crisscrossed by earthquake fault lines along the Pacific Coast Highway pose a hazard to travelers in inclement weather. The highway bisects the bluffs from the beaches. Along the beach, there is a mix of single-family and multifamily residences, some on sandy beaches and others on wet beaches. For the most part, the residences are on narrow lots and are single- or two-story, with varied architectural styles.
The beachside of PCH has a few commercial lots and single-family and multifamily units. It has a private beach club for residents who own property above La Costa Beach. It has the only inn and motel on the sand in the Los Angeles area. There is limited public access to these beaches, and no public facilities or guard stations are available. The Las Tunas beach portion has a groin system in place.
Septic systems and public facilities service all of the property. As in all beach communities, there is heavy surf at times and beach erosion and replacement.
On the land side of PCH, there are periods of heavy surf where the terrain allows multifamily development and single-family residences, and commercial strip, office, and stores are permitted.
This side has some fault lines that may also run through some beachside properties, and as a result, some of the landside properties may not be buildable.
Because the Pacific Coast Highway varies in length and the routes between bluffs and beaches are limited, there is limited accommodation and no bicycle lanes.
Highway and aircraft noise are prevalent on the beach property.
The strip shopping was created by the Coastal Commission concept of serving tourism rather than the needs of the local community.
The most significant characteristic of this area is the beauty of its sites and the shorelineocean.
